M
Mark Eckel
Guest
By BOB McGINN
All it would have taken was one phone call, one email and a subsequent breakfast, lunch or private meeting.
Not only did John Dorsey want to become the next general manager of the Green Bay Packers, he was the perfect fit to become the next general manager of the Green Bay Packers.
He isn’t because of one person. That would be Mark Murphy, the president of the NFL franchise in Green Bay.
Murphy had almost six months last year to take advantage of maybe the greatest stroke of luck in his decade as president of the Packers. But Murphy obviously had no interest in Dorsey because he never contacted him.
My son, Charlie, and I were more than two months away from launching bobmcginnfootball.com when news broke June 23 that Dorsey had been fired by owner Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs.
My first thought was that the Packers couldn’t have been more fortunate. Just when it appeared Dorsey would receive a long-term contract extension from the Chiefs that more than likely would preclude him from ever rejoining the Packers, he was free. Just like that.
In mid-September, I called Dorsey expecting to be told the Packers had brought him on board in some capacity as the first step toward succeeding Ted Thompson. In January 2017, I had written a column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel examining Dorsey’s qualifications for the job and suggesting he would had the best chance to wind up as the team’s next GM.
At the time, it seemed that the two obstacles to a partnership made in football heaven were Thompson’s future in Green Bay and Dorsey’s in Kansas City.
As we now know, Murphy had broached the future with Thompson at about the same time I wrote that column. Thompson, according to Murphy, told him how much he loved being a scout.
At some point in 2017 they met again at which time the decision was made that the Packers would move on from Thompson, for a variety of reasons. It should be obvious that Murphy, with approval of the other six members of the executive committee, could have made that decision at any time in order to accommodate the hiring of Dorsey.
Dorsey spent July and much of August with his family at their Door County home in Ephraim before returning to Kansas City for the start of the school year. He was being paid by the Chiefs through the 2018 draft.
Murphy spent portions of the summer at his home on Kangaroo Lake, or just a couple miles from Dorsey.
Dorsey turned down opportunities to consult for several clubs. He determined that his best path toward another shot as a GM would be to spend full days at home watching NFL tape to stay current on players in the league and college tape to prepare for the draft.
In late October, a search firm operating on behalf of the Cleveland Browns contacted Dorsey about the GM job. After an extensive series of interviews, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam hired Dorsey Dec. 7.
Friends of Dorsey say there’s absolutely no question that his overriding desire was a return to the Packers, for whom he had spent 23 years as a key operative in the team’s personnel department after a six-year career as one of their players.
They also say there was never any sign of friction between Dorsey and Murphy. Many times I recall them standing side-by-side talking and laughing as they watched practice.
One source said Dorsey, named NFL executive of the year in 2013 by the Pro Football Writers of America, felt it simply wasn’t his place to call Murphy and see if he had a chance in Green Bay. For all I know, Murphy found out about Dorsey to Cleveland when the public did.
Dorsey, a model employee in Green Bay under Tom Braatz, Ron Wolf, Mike Sherman and Thompson, has attacked the 0-16 cesspool in Cleveland just as he did the 2-14 team that he inherited from deposed Chiefs GM Scott Pioli in January 2013.
The Browns won’t be the laughingstock of the league for long. They’re on the move.
As for the Packers, well, they have Aaron Rodgers coming back.
If the Packers had hired Dorsey, you can take it to the bank that Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith wouldn’t have left for Cleveland and both Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball would be back in their former positions (Unless for the Browns GM job; Brian Gaine was a lock for the Texans GM job).
The rest of the staff, led by directors Jon-Eric Sullivan and John Wojciechowski, would have remained intact, and there’s no reason to think Dorsey would have kicked Thompson to the curb given their long association and friendship.
“None of these people would have left if John had come back,” said a longtime employee of the Packers. “Everybody loves John. He made too much sense.”
It’s likely Dorsey would have received the same power to hire and fire the head coach that Wolf and Thompson received from Bob Harlan, Murphy’s predecessor. At 57, and coming off five years of excellent work drafting and signing players for the Chiefs, Dorsey would have had the gravitas to navigate the Packers through what might be the tumultuous waters (potential coaching change) that lie ahead.
On Jan. 2, Murphy twice said the Packers’ power structure wouldn’t change. Six days later he did an about-face, changed the structure and assumed control himself.
Dorsey was canned in Kansas City when head coach Andy Reid basically stabbed him in the back, went to Hunt and said he couldn’t work with him. Both men reported to Hunt; it’s doubtful if Dorsey would have tolerated a similar scenario unfolding in Green Bay in which Mike McCarthy could pull a power play with Murphy and he’d be fired all over again.
Murphy, of course, promoted the 44-year-old Gutekunst to GM and Ball to executive vice president of football operations.
Within 48 hours Wolf left to become assistant GM under Dorsey in Cleveland. Not long before that Highsmith was named the Browns’ vice president of player personnel. Dorsey also hired three of his former scouts in Kansas City; one was personnel coordinator Dan Zegers, who got his start with the Packers.
The Packers have Gutekunst, Ball, Sullivan and Wojciechowski in major positions, and the 65-year-old Thompson as senior advisor to football operations. They also have Murphy, who clearly intends to flex his muscle in football operations.
“Green Bay has a huge void right now,” an NFL personnel director said. “’Gutey’ is swimming right now. There’s nothing there. Nobody there to bank on. Jon-Eric’s there. That’s about it.”
Everyone recognizes that Gutekunst must add one or two veteran evaluators. That might have to wait until after the draft, however, when some capable scouts become available.
At the turn of the decade scouts around the league would remark about how top-heavy the personnel department had become in Green Bay. Over time, John Schneider (2010), Reggie McKenzie (2012), Shaun Herock (2012), Dorsey (2013), Lee Gissendaner (2015), Glenn Cook (2016), Tim Terry (2017), Highsmith and Wolf all left for better jobs.
Imagine if Murphy had picked up that phone and reeled in Dorsey? Green Bay would be the envy of the NFL with a hard-charging, seasoned GM heading up a deep, experienced staff of scouts. Ball, assuming he’s able to overcome his disappointment at being passed over, would remain doing his solid work as contract negotiator and administrator.
For years, sources have said frustration ran deep within the Packers’ personnel department. Thompson’s hesitancy held the organization back.
Escaping the shackles placed on them by Thompson, Schneider, McKenzie and Dorsey made tons of moves when handed the reins elsewhere. Gutekunst probably experienced those same frustrations and might well be much more active in free agency come March, but if he does the Packers could find themselves at considerable risk.
Murphy probably was guilty of hyperbole when he said of Gutekunst, “He’s viewed as a rising star within the NFL.”
One veteran AFC personnel man said, “He’s kind of quiet. Keeps to himself. He has a group (of scouts) he kind of runs with. I have no idea if he can evaluate. Typically in organizations, guys separate themselves. He never struck me as an executive. Maybe behind closed doors he was.”
Gutekunst has worked himself up from an entry-level scouting position. He scouted strictly colleges from 1999-’15, including 11 years as the area man in the Southeast.
In March 2016, Thompson promoted Gutekunst to director of player personnel. In that role, colleagues said he spent about 60% of his time on college and 40% on pro.
The Packers would appear most vulnerable on the pro side as free agency approaches March 14.
Not only does Gutekunst have minimal experience in pro, Wojciechowski was a college scout for 20-plus years before being promoted to director of pro personnel eight months ago. The three in-house scouts under Wojciechowski are Chad Brinker, an eight-year veteran; Richmond Williams, for nine years a college scout who moved to pro in June, and Luke Benuska, 24, who is almost brand-new.
Thompson, an eternal pessimist when it comes to signing veterans, is coming off a horrible year calling the personnel shots. Gutekunst can ill afford to lean too heavily on his mentor.
Much like Ron Wolf, his mentor, Dorsey is a meat-and-potatoes scout at heart who made astute additions via free agency and trades every year in Kansas City.
The loss of Eliot Wolf possibly will be felt most in March. He basically set the Packers’ free-agent board for several years. With his high intellect, near-photographic memory, acute knowledge of the other 31 teams and new-found freedom to recommend and make moves, he would have been invaluable to Gutekunst.
“Eliot’s a slam dunk,” said one personnel director with knowledge of the Packers’ scouting operation. “He was the best evaluator in that room. The scouts there loved him.”
Highsmith never got a promotion from Thompson after 2012 and some opposing scouts couldn’t understand why. He’s a keen evaluator, particularly of running backs. He’s a glue guy in and around the locker room. With his contacts and the way he carries himself, he can be a valuable recruiter for an organization.
Unlike Thompson’ frequent modus operandi, Murphy didn’t stand in the way of Wolf or Highsmith when Dorsey sought to interview them.
“We’re lucky to add Alonzo and Eliot,” Dorsey said in a press release. “Alonzo’s 25 years of experience … give him a unique perspective when it comes to evaluating talent and building a team. Alonzo and I share the same passion … we are going to set out to find talented football players that possess the same passion for the game.
“Eliot has been a fine executive in this league for some time now … he’s been a big reason for the consistent success of the Packers over the last decade.”
Said Wolf: “I’m so thankful for this opportunity … I really like the direction of where leadership is headed. We’re going to build this team the right way. To be part of that from the ground up is going to be special.”
Wolf was confident he and Gutekunst would have worked well together. However, when Dorsey recruited him hard with increased responsibilities and salary, Wolf deemed the offer too good to pass up.
How Murphy could have ignored Dorsey for Green Bay after his work with the Packers and Chiefs is difficult to fathom. Some maintain Murphy wanted to break from the Wolf-Harlan mold. It’s widely known that Dorsey and Harlan are extremely close.
Reid was hired before Dorsey but it was Dorsey who had control of the draft and the 53-man roster, and control it he did.
The Chiefs enacted the greatest turnaround in club history in 2013, improving nine games to 11-5. In 2015, their playoff victory was the first in 22 years. Kansas City’s 43-21 record from 2013-’16 ranked fourth in the NFL; Green Bay was sixth at 40-23-1.
Dorsey solved the Chiefs’ quarterback problem immediately by trading a pair of second-round draft choices to San Francisco for Alex Smith. The Chiefs reached agreement this week to trade Smith to Washington because Dorsey had the courage in April to make the blockbuster deal for Patrick Mahomes, who couldn’t have been more impressive in his only start.
Year after year, Dorsey reinforced the roster in Kansas City with good football players. After the final cuts were in that first year, he was awarded seven players on waivers the next day; safety Ron Parker, defensive end Jaye Howard and cornerback Marcus Cooper combined to start 105 games for the Chiefs.
“I’ve learned from John that there’s always a player out there and you’ve always got to continue to dig, and you can’t be scared to bring that guy on your team,” Chris Ballard, who left as Dorsey’s right-hand man in January 2017 to become GM in Indianapolis, told Chiefs.com. “You’ve got to be aggressive.
“One thing about (Dorsey) is he never makes it about him.”
Reid has a long reputation for winning power struggles with personnel men. The victims during his years in Philadelphia were Tom Modrak and Tom Heckert.
It’s possible that Murphy crossed off Dorsey as a candidate because of the simple fact he was fired by Hunt, one of his so-called peers. Hunt portrays that button-down, corporate image that Murphy does in Green Bay.
Dorsey hit more than he missed picking players or the Chiefs wouldn’t have won as much as they did. In his 4 ½ years there would certainly have been disagreements between Dorsey and Reid. In the end, Hunt signed the coach to a five-year extension and promoted Reid’s go-fer in Philadelphia, Brett Veach, to GM.
“He gives an image of ‘Oh, shucks,’ but don’t think for a second it’s not about dollars and cents,” an NFL decision-maker said of Murphy. “I’m talking about generating the dollars from the business plan model. It’s the business model that counts.”
Murphy has handed the Titletown District project just west of Lambeau Field to corporate counsel Ed Policy, who on Jan. 17 was promoted from vice president to chief operating officer. Policy, 47, has risen in his 5 ½-year stint with the Packers and could be positioned to succeed Murphy, who will turn 63 in July.
“Very unassuming, very smart, very focused, very forward thinker,” said one source who has had several dealings with Policy.
Policy’s father, Carmen, helped the San Francisco 49ers capture four Super Bowls during a 16-year run that included work as team president.
The promotion of Policy followed in short order Murphy’s decision to become immersed in football affairs. Last week, coach Mike McCarthy said Murphy had been talking to him on a daily basis.
Murphy has gone back to the Packers’ structure from 1988-’91 when the coach (Lindy Infante) and the executive vice president of football operations (Braatz) each reported to team president Robert Parins.
Unlike Parins, an attorney who became a Brown County judge, Murphy played football professionally. His career as a safety with the Washington Redskins lasted from 1977-’84.
According to Murphy, he sensed for several years that he needed to become more involved with football. He interviewed Gutekunst, Ball, Wolf and former Buffalo GM Doug Whaley.
“I thought the process to me was very, very, very, very helpful in terms of really allowing me to have a good sense of what was going on with football,” said Murphy.
Many people have told me what should be done to fix the Packers. Not one mentioned Murphy becoming more involved in football.
In the GM interviews, Murphy involved the team’s head of human resources and publicity as well as Jed Hughes, a head-hunter who helped Murphy get hired in 2008 and currently employs Murphy’s daughter.
During the week-long search, Murphy contacted Charlie Casserly, the former GM in Washington and Houston who has helped various teams fill GM openings.
One source said Murphy had no names of candidates outside the organization before talking to Casserly. Another source said Murphy wasn’t even aware of some up-and-coming personnel men that football people know all about.
Murphy has spent much of his time trying to make money for the Packers, making public-relations appearances, performing NFL committee work and operating at the ownership level of the league.
For an indication of Murphy’s past work, examine the success and vision of Northwestern athletics under his direction from 2003-’07 compared to that of his successor, Jim Phillips. The tilt toward Phillips is eye-opening, to say the least.
Parins wasn’t equipped to make football decisions, either, which was one reason Harlan changed the structure in November 1991 so the coach would report to the GM.
Murphy’s increased involvement in football means that the executive committee probably will be more involved, too.
“Now the committee feels they’ve got juice,” said one source familiar with members Daniel Ariens, Susan Finco, Mark McMullen, Thomas Olejniczak, Thomas Olson and Michael Simmer. “They’re very much involved. They feel they’re football guys. Now they’ve got a say on the head coach.”
Everybody was saying all the right things last month. Conflict is inevitable because it’s the NFL.
McCarthy, with two years left on his contract, is in position now either to make or exert greater influence on personnel decisions. Sources said he complained often about Thompson’s inactivity in free agency.
McCarthy, however, has offered little or no evidence that his judgment on players should be trusted. Just in the last year he allowed Taysom Hill to get away, continued to champion the cause of Joe Callahan, viewed Ty Montgomery as a starting running back, didn’t play Aaron Jones until Game 4 and refused to give Trevor Davis much chance even though Jordy Nelson offered next to nothing.
For 12 years Thompson and McCarthy were locked in a common cause and were forced to work out their differences. Now, McCarthy and Gutekunst could end up fighting each other with Murphy serving as the boss in a realm that isn’t his strength.
Let’s say Gutekunst wants to make a coaching change after the Packers perhaps finish 9-7 in 2018. Murphy, with the executive committee offering opinions and keeping abreast of his every move, might side with McCarthy and offer him an extension.
Maybe McCarthy goes to Murphy and says he can’t work with Gutekunst.
Where would that leave Gutekunst, who had little or no leverage when the chance of becoming GM of the Packers presented itself?
In many ways this has become the Mark Murphy/Mike McCarthy show when it should have been the John Dorsey show.
Gutekunst comes highly thought of by football people that I respect. The staff defections have left him in an unenviable spot. He figures to learn by trial and error.
It should be crystal clear that Dorsey was the percentage play.
That doesn’t mean Gutekunst can’t become a successful GM. He certainly can.
It simply means Dorsey, with his institutional knowledge and outstanding run performing the same job in Kansas City, would have given the Packers a better chance to get back on track in a situation that will require wisdom, savvy and strength.
Murphy didn’t want the established, low-risk hire. He’s betting on himself. Now he needs to deliver.
The post The percentage play for Murphy was hiring Dorsey appeared first on Bob McGinn Football.
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All it would have taken was one phone call, one email and a subsequent breakfast, lunch or private meeting.
Not only did John Dorsey want to become the next general manager of the Green Bay Packers, he was the perfect fit to become the next general manager of the Green Bay Packers.
He isn’t because of one person. That would be Mark Murphy, the president of the NFL franchise in Green Bay.
Murphy had almost six months last year to take advantage of maybe the greatest stroke of luck in his decade as president of the Packers. But Murphy obviously had no interest in Dorsey because he never contacted him.
My son, Charlie, and I were more than two months away from launching bobmcginnfootball.com when news broke June 23 that Dorsey had been fired by owner Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs.
My first thought was that the Packers couldn’t have been more fortunate. Just when it appeared Dorsey would receive a long-term contract extension from the Chiefs that more than likely would preclude him from ever rejoining the Packers, he was free. Just like that.
In mid-September, I called Dorsey expecting to be told the Packers had brought him on board in some capacity as the first step toward succeeding Ted Thompson. In January 2017, I had written a column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel examining Dorsey’s qualifications for the job and suggesting he would had the best chance to wind up as the team’s next GM.
At the time, it seemed that the two obstacles to a partnership made in football heaven were Thompson’s future in Green Bay and Dorsey’s in Kansas City.
As we now know, Murphy had broached the future with Thompson at about the same time I wrote that column. Thompson, according to Murphy, told him how much he loved being a scout.
At some point in 2017 they met again at which time the decision was made that the Packers would move on from Thompson, for a variety of reasons. It should be obvious that Murphy, with approval of the other six members of the executive committee, could have made that decision at any time in order to accommodate the hiring of Dorsey.
Dorsey spent July and much of August with his family at their Door County home in Ephraim before returning to Kansas City for the start of the school year. He was being paid by the Chiefs through the 2018 draft.
Murphy spent portions of the summer at his home on Kangaroo Lake, or just a couple miles from Dorsey.
Dorsey turned down opportunities to consult for several clubs. He determined that his best path toward another shot as a GM would be to spend full days at home watching NFL tape to stay current on players in the league and college tape to prepare for the draft.
In late October, a search firm operating on behalf of the Cleveland Browns contacted Dorsey about the GM job. After an extensive series of interviews, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam hired Dorsey Dec. 7.
Friends of Dorsey say there’s absolutely no question that his overriding desire was a return to the Packers, for whom he had spent 23 years as a key operative in the team’s personnel department after a six-year career as one of their players.
They also say there was never any sign of friction between Dorsey and Murphy. Many times I recall them standing side-by-side talking and laughing as they watched practice.
One source said Dorsey, named NFL executive of the year in 2013 by the Pro Football Writers of America, felt it simply wasn’t his place to call Murphy and see if he had a chance in Green Bay. For all I know, Murphy found out about Dorsey to Cleveland when the public did.
Dorsey, a model employee in Green Bay under Tom Braatz, Ron Wolf, Mike Sherman and Thompson, has attacked the 0-16 cesspool in Cleveland just as he did the 2-14 team that he inherited from deposed Chiefs GM Scott Pioli in January 2013.
The Browns won’t be the laughingstock of the league for long. They’re on the move.
As for the Packers, well, they have Aaron Rodgers coming back.
If the Packers had hired Dorsey, you can take it to the bank that Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith wouldn’t have left for Cleveland and both Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball would be back in their former positions (Unless for the Browns GM job; Brian Gaine was a lock for the Texans GM job).
The rest of the staff, led by directors Jon-Eric Sullivan and John Wojciechowski, would have remained intact, and there’s no reason to think Dorsey would have kicked Thompson to the curb given their long association and friendship.
“None of these people would have left if John had come back,” said a longtime employee of the Packers. “Everybody loves John. He made too much sense.”
It’s likely Dorsey would have received the same power to hire and fire the head coach that Wolf and Thompson received from Bob Harlan, Murphy’s predecessor. At 57, and coming off five years of excellent work drafting and signing players for the Chiefs, Dorsey would have had the gravitas to navigate the Packers through what might be the tumultuous waters (potential coaching change) that lie ahead.
On Jan. 2, Murphy twice said the Packers’ power structure wouldn’t change. Six days later he did an about-face, changed the structure and assumed control himself.
Dorsey was canned in Kansas City when head coach Andy Reid basically stabbed him in the back, went to Hunt and said he couldn’t work with him. Both men reported to Hunt; it’s doubtful if Dorsey would have tolerated a similar scenario unfolding in Green Bay in which Mike McCarthy could pull a power play with Murphy and he’d be fired all over again.
Murphy, of course, promoted the 44-year-old Gutekunst to GM and Ball to executive vice president of football operations.
Within 48 hours Wolf left to become assistant GM under Dorsey in Cleveland. Not long before that Highsmith was named the Browns’ vice president of player personnel. Dorsey also hired three of his former scouts in Kansas City; one was personnel coordinator Dan Zegers, who got his start with the Packers.
The Packers have Gutekunst, Ball, Sullivan and Wojciechowski in major positions, and the 65-year-old Thompson as senior advisor to football operations. They also have Murphy, who clearly intends to flex his muscle in football operations.
“Green Bay has a huge void right now,” an NFL personnel director said. “’Gutey’ is swimming right now. There’s nothing there. Nobody there to bank on. Jon-Eric’s there. That’s about it.”
Everyone recognizes that Gutekunst must add one or two veteran evaluators. That might have to wait until after the draft, however, when some capable scouts become available.
At the turn of the decade scouts around the league would remark about how top-heavy the personnel department had become in Green Bay. Over time, John Schneider (2010), Reggie McKenzie (2012), Shaun Herock (2012), Dorsey (2013), Lee Gissendaner (2015), Glenn Cook (2016), Tim Terry (2017), Highsmith and Wolf all left for better jobs.
Imagine if Murphy had picked up that phone and reeled in Dorsey? Green Bay would be the envy of the NFL with a hard-charging, seasoned GM heading up a deep, experienced staff of scouts. Ball, assuming he’s able to overcome his disappointment at being passed over, would remain doing his solid work as contract negotiator and administrator.
For years, sources have said frustration ran deep within the Packers’ personnel department. Thompson’s hesitancy held the organization back.
Escaping the shackles placed on them by Thompson, Schneider, McKenzie and Dorsey made tons of moves when handed the reins elsewhere. Gutekunst probably experienced those same frustrations and might well be much more active in free agency come March, but if he does the Packers could find themselves at considerable risk.
Murphy probably was guilty of hyperbole when he said of Gutekunst, “He’s viewed as a rising star within the NFL.”
One veteran AFC personnel man said, “He’s kind of quiet. Keeps to himself. He has a group (of scouts) he kind of runs with. I have no idea if he can evaluate. Typically in organizations, guys separate themselves. He never struck me as an executive. Maybe behind closed doors he was.”
Gutekunst has worked himself up from an entry-level scouting position. He scouted strictly colleges from 1999-’15, including 11 years as the area man in the Southeast.
In March 2016, Thompson promoted Gutekunst to director of player personnel. In that role, colleagues said he spent about 60% of his time on college and 40% on pro.
The Packers would appear most vulnerable on the pro side as free agency approaches March 14.
Not only does Gutekunst have minimal experience in pro, Wojciechowski was a college scout for 20-plus years before being promoted to director of pro personnel eight months ago. The three in-house scouts under Wojciechowski are Chad Brinker, an eight-year veteran; Richmond Williams, for nine years a college scout who moved to pro in June, and Luke Benuska, 24, who is almost brand-new.
Thompson, an eternal pessimist when it comes to signing veterans, is coming off a horrible year calling the personnel shots. Gutekunst can ill afford to lean too heavily on his mentor.
Much like Ron Wolf, his mentor, Dorsey is a meat-and-potatoes scout at heart who made astute additions via free agency and trades every year in Kansas City.
The loss of Eliot Wolf possibly will be felt most in March. He basically set the Packers’ free-agent board for several years. With his high intellect, near-photographic memory, acute knowledge of the other 31 teams and new-found freedom to recommend and make moves, he would have been invaluable to Gutekunst.
“Eliot’s a slam dunk,” said one personnel director with knowledge of the Packers’ scouting operation. “He was the best evaluator in that room. The scouts there loved him.”
Highsmith never got a promotion from Thompson after 2012 and some opposing scouts couldn’t understand why. He’s a keen evaluator, particularly of running backs. He’s a glue guy in and around the locker room. With his contacts and the way he carries himself, he can be a valuable recruiter for an organization.
Unlike Thompson’ frequent modus operandi, Murphy didn’t stand in the way of Wolf or Highsmith when Dorsey sought to interview them.
“We’re lucky to add Alonzo and Eliot,” Dorsey said in a press release. “Alonzo’s 25 years of experience … give him a unique perspective when it comes to evaluating talent and building a team. Alonzo and I share the same passion … we are going to set out to find talented football players that possess the same passion for the game.
“Eliot has been a fine executive in this league for some time now … he’s been a big reason for the consistent success of the Packers over the last decade.”
Said Wolf: “I’m so thankful for this opportunity … I really like the direction of where leadership is headed. We’re going to build this team the right way. To be part of that from the ground up is going to be special.”
Wolf was confident he and Gutekunst would have worked well together. However, when Dorsey recruited him hard with increased responsibilities and salary, Wolf deemed the offer too good to pass up.
How Murphy could have ignored Dorsey for Green Bay after his work with the Packers and Chiefs is difficult to fathom. Some maintain Murphy wanted to break from the Wolf-Harlan mold. It’s widely known that Dorsey and Harlan are extremely close.
Reid was hired before Dorsey but it was Dorsey who had control of the draft and the 53-man roster, and control it he did.
The Chiefs enacted the greatest turnaround in club history in 2013, improving nine games to 11-5. In 2015, their playoff victory was the first in 22 years. Kansas City’s 43-21 record from 2013-’16 ranked fourth in the NFL; Green Bay was sixth at 40-23-1.
Dorsey solved the Chiefs’ quarterback problem immediately by trading a pair of second-round draft choices to San Francisco for Alex Smith. The Chiefs reached agreement this week to trade Smith to Washington because Dorsey had the courage in April to make the blockbuster deal for Patrick Mahomes, who couldn’t have been more impressive in his only start.
Year after year, Dorsey reinforced the roster in Kansas City with good football players. After the final cuts were in that first year, he was awarded seven players on waivers the next day; safety Ron Parker, defensive end Jaye Howard and cornerback Marcus Cooper combined to start 105 games for the Chiefs.
“I’ve learned from John that there’s always a player out there and you’ve always got to continue to dig, and you can’t be scared to bring that guy on your team,” Chris Ballard, who left as Dorsey’s right-hand man in January 2017 to become GM in Indianapolis, told Chiefs.com. “You’ve got to be aggressive.
“One thing about (Dorsey) is he never makes it about him.”
Reid has a long reputation for winning power struggles with personnel men. The victims during his years in Philadelphia were Tom Modrak and Tom Heckert.
It’s possible that Murphy crossed off Dorsey as a candidate because of the simple fact he was fired by Hunt, one of his so-called peers. Hunt portrays that button-down, corporate image that Murphy does in Green Bay.
Dorsey hit more than he missed picking players or the Chiefs wouldn’t have won as much as they did. In his 4 ½ years there would certainly have been disagreements between Dorsey and Reid. In the end, Hunt signed the coach to a five-year extension and promoted Reid’s go-fer in Philadelphia, Brett Veach, to GM.
“He gives an image of ‘Oh, shucks,’ but don’t think for a second it’s not about dollars and cents,” an NFL decision-maker said of Murphy. “I’m talking about generating the dollars from the business plan model. It’s the business model that counts.”
Murphy has handed the Titletown District project just west of Lambeau Field to corporate counsel Ed Policy, who on Jan. 17 was promoted from vice president to chief operating officer. Policy, 47, has risen in his 5 ½-year stint with the Packers and could be positioned to succeed Murphy, who will turn 63 in July.
“Very unassuming, very smart, very focused, very forward thinker,” said one source who has had several dealings with Policy.
Policy’s father, Carmen, helped the San Francisco 49ers capture four Super Bowls during a 16-year run that included work as team president.
The promotion of Policy followed in short order Murphy’s decision to become immersed in football affairs. Last week, coach Mike McCarthy said Murphy had been talking to him on a daily basis.
Murphy has gone back to the Packers’ structure from 1988-’91 when the coach (Lindy Infante) and the executive vice president of football operations (Braatz) each reported to team president Robert Parins.
Unlike Parins, an attorney who became a Brown County judge, Murphy played football professionally. His career as a safety with the Washington Redskins lasted from 1977-’84.
According to Murphy, he sensed for several years that he needed to become more involved with football. He interviewed Gutekunst, Ball, Wolf and former Buffalo GM Doug Whaley.
“I thought the process to me was very, very, very, very helpful in terms of really allowing me to have a good sense of what was going on with football,” said Murphy.
Many people have told me what should be done to fix the Packers. Not one mentioned Murphy becoming more involved in football.
In the GM interviews, Murphy involved the team’s head of human resources and publicity as well as Jed Hughes, a head-hunter who helped Murphy get hired in 2008 and currently employs Murphy’s daughter.
During the week-long search, Murphy contacted Charlie Casserly, the former GM in Washington and Houston who has helped various teams fill GM openings.
One source said Murphy had no names of candidates outside the organization before talking to Casserly. Another source said Murphy wasn’t even aware of some up-and-coming personnel men that football people know all about.
Murphy has spent much of his time trying to make money for the Packers, making public-relations appearances, performing NFL committee work and operating at the ownership level of the league.
For an indication of Murphy’s past work, examine the success and vision of Northwestern athletics under his direction from 2003-’07 compared to that of his successor, Jim Phillips. The tilt toward Phillips is eye-opening, to say the least.
Parins wasn’t equipped to make football decisions, either, which was one reason Harlan changed the structure in November 1991 so the coach would report to the GM.
Murphy’s increased involvement in football means that the executive committee probably will be more involved, too.
“Now the committee feels they’ve got juice,” said one source familiar with members Daniel Ariens, Susan Finco, Mark McMullen, Thomas Olejniczak, Thomas Olson and Michael Simmer. “They’re very much involved. They feel they’re football guys. Now they’ve got a say on the head coach.”
Everybody was saying all the right things last month. Conflict is inevitable because it’s the NFL.
McCarthy, with two years left on his contract, is in position now either to make or exert greater influence on personnel decisions. Sources said he complained often about Thompson’s inactivity in free agency.
McCarthy, however, has offered little or no evidence that his judgment on players should be trusted. Just in the last year he allowed Taysom Hill to get away, continued to champion the cause of Joe Callahan, viewed Ty Montgomery as a starting running back, didn’t play Aaron Jones until Game 4 and refused to give Trevor Davis much chance even though Jordy Nelson offered next to nothing.
For 12 years Thompson and McCarthy were locked in a common cause and were forced to work out their differences. Now, McCarthy and Gutekunst could end up fighting each other with Murphy serving as the boss in a realm that isn’t his strength.
Let’s say Gutekunst wants to make a coaching change after the Packers perhaps finish 9-7 in 2018. Murphy, with the executive committee offering opinions and keeping abreast of his every move, might side with McCarthy and offer him an extension.
Maybe McCarthy goes to Murphy and says he can’t work with Gutekunst.
Where would that leave Gutekunst, who had little or no leverage when the chance of becoming GM of the Packers presented itself?
In many ways this has become the Mark Murphy/Mike McCarthy show when it should have been the John Dorsey show.
Gutekunst comes highly thought of by football people that I respect. The staff defections have left him in an unenviable spot. He figures to learn by trial and error.
It should be crystal clear that Dorsey was the percentage play.
That doesn’t mean Gutekunst can’t become a successful GM. He certainly can.
It simply means Dorsey, with his institutional knowledge and outstanding run performing the same job in Kansas City, would have given the Packers a better chance to get back on track in a situation that will require wisdom, savvy and strength.
Murphy didn’t want the established, low-risk hire. He’s betting on himself. Now he needs to deliver.
The post The percentage play for Murphy was hiring Dorsey appeared first on Bob McGinn Football.
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